needham



THEATER STAGE.

No. 278,880. Patented Mar.13,1883.

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NrTED STATES PATENT rrrca.

CHARLES A. NEEDHAH, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y., ASSlUrNOlt TO HIMSELF AND ELIAS P. NEEDHAM, OF SAME PLACE.

TH EATER-STAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,880, dated March 13, -1883.

Application filed January 24, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. NEEDHAM. ofthe city and countyot'New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Theater-Stages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to theater-stages which are adapted to be shifted to bring them severally opposite the proscenium and to remove IO them therefrom, thus enabling an act or acts to be set on one or more of the stages while an act is being played. At the end of each act the stage upon which it was played is removed from in front of the proscenium and r 5 a stage upon which an act has been previously set is substituted, thus greatly reducing the intervals of time between the acts.

My invention is applicable to stages of the kind shown and described in my United States Letters Patent No. 258,539, dated May 23,

My invention consists in the combination, with the proscenium of a theater, of a multiple stage or system of stages placed opposite the proscenium, and a roller-support therefor, whereby provision is afforded for turning the multiple stage or system of stages so as to bring diiferent portions or stages thereof opposite the proscenium. W'ith the roller-support I preferably combine a center pivot or hearing at the top or bottom of the multiple stage or system of stages, and, if desired, I may provide such a center pivot or hearing at both the top and bottom thereof for the purpose of steadying its movements.

The invention also consists in the combination, with the proscenium of a theater, of a multiple stage or system of stages comprising a waiting-room, and placed opposite the proscenium, and a roller-support therefor, whereby provision is made for turning the multiple stage or system of stages for the purpose above mentioned.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 represents a plan of a theater embodying my invention; and Fig. 2 represents a vertical. section on the dotted line 00 0:, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures. v A designates the auditorium, B the proscenium, and O the stage-boxes, of a theater.

stages placed opposite the proscenium, and a D designates the stationary stage portion or floor, and E designates the multiple stage or system of stages. As here represented, the stage portion or floor D has formed in it a central opening, I), and the multiple stage or system of stages fits and is adapted to turn in said opening. The said stage or system E may be, as here shown, on the same level as the stage portion or floor D, and extend upward to the top of the proscenium B.

F designates a snitably-constructed circular track, which is fixed on a suitable support, G, and H designates rollersjournaled in brackets or hangers, and secured on the bottom of the multiple stage or system of stages E.

I have here shown the multiple stage or system of stages E as provided with central pivots or bearings, (t, at top and bottom; but either one or both of these pivots or bearings 0 might be dispensed with. If both are dispensed with, the rollers H may be grooved or flanged, and the track F correspondingly constructed. so as to keep the stage or system E concentric with the opening D. The multiple stage or system of stages may be divided by vertical partitions 1), arranged in any way to form two or more separate stages.

In the present example of my invention I have represented a waiting-room, c, at the So center of the stage, and four partitions radiating therefrom and forming four separate stages, I; but the partitions may be. arranged, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, so as to form two stages only; or they may be otherwise arranged.

In lieu of employing a stationary track and rollers attached to the stage or system of stages, I may arrange the rollers in a circular series in fixed hearings on the support G, and e secure to the bottom of the stage or system E a circular bearing-plate adapted to rest upon the rollers; or I may employ rollers made in the form of balls or spheres, resting loosely in a concave track on the supports G.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the proscenium of a theater, of a multiple stage or system of I00 roller-support therefor, whereby provision is afforded for turning the multiple stage or systern of stages to bring different portions or stages opposite the proscenium, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the proscenium of a theater, of a multiple stage or system otv stages placed opposite the proscenium, a roller-support therefor, and a central pivot, or hearing at one or both ends thereof, whereby provision is afl'orded for turning the multiple stage or system oft stages to bring different portions or stages opposite the proscenium, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the proscenium ot' atheater, of a multiple stage or system of stages comprising a waiting-room placed op- 1 

